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What TV are you watching and how would you rate it? [Revive from FRDB]

Jayjay said:
Twin Peaks: The Return
10/10

I was a big fan of the original, though it was marred by low production values and other limitations of network tv back in the day. To this day, Twin peaks remains one of the most unique tv drama series ever made, and The Return is more of the same with better special effects and more artistic freedom. I could try to explain what it's about and fail miserably, but instead here is a representative clip:



I know, right? Who in their right mind wouldn't want to watch 18 hours of this?
Click to expand...


I gotta update this to 8 or 9 out of 10.

It's just not that well done. I don't mind the ending making no sense, because none of it made any sense anyway and I'm not sure it's supposed to. But the new season, despite being superior to the originals, still has a pretty boring plot and a dumb ending. But the worst sin is that it's a bit self-absorbed in dealing with the old characters, and disjoint with its different storylines happening all over the map. For the former, it seems that Lynch wanted the old guys aboard, but they don't really add much to the plot and are not that interesting, except for Gordon played by Lynch himself. Albert is no longer his old motormouth self, probably because the actor had throat cancer and couldn't have dealt with the dialogue, and David Bowie who died before he could do his part was replaced by a giant teapot, stock footage, and an imitator. That role would have been much better served simply being recast. The log lady died, so they used a few short clips of her that was literally phoned in. And Audrey, what the fuck. Her only appearance was to do the iconic dance, but there is no in-story reason why her dance would be such a big deal. And her story never gets finished. Neither does the story about the box in the building (not very well anyway).

The fact that it was filmed in different locations at different times is also blatantly obvious. Not everything is happening in Twin Peaks anymore, but the different sets don't connect, it's like they just crammed in three or four different movies into one and just mashed it all together.

that being said, I still did enjoy watching most of it and most of the new characters are great, and there are many scenes and pieces of dialogue that make it worth watching despite its shortcomings. It's just not the greatest thing since sliced bread, that's all.
 
Defenders - 8 / 10

An excellent super hero team up show. It wa a nice continuation of all the various people's arcs and they were good together. Even Iron Fist was interesting and cool - they solved a lot of the issues the character had in his own series. The thing I liked best is that they pulled back the veil on the Hand and explained who they were and what they were doing and didn't just have them as a set of overly enigmatic enigmas who's agendas were unclear. It made them far superior and engaging villains once their goals and motivations were clear.
 
I busted my foot at work so I'm off for at least two weeks. Seeing as I can't move about, I caught up on a few TV shows on my list:

The Leftovers

Stopped watching after Season 2. There is no plot, as far as I can see. None of the characters are relatable and I actually nodded off in a few of the episodes and didn't miss much. What I found most offensive was the music. It's the same two fucking notes played on the piano over and over again, I presume to give some impression of drama but failed miserably. This is not a TV show about the rapture, spirituality or whatever the synopsis on IMDB and wiki state. It's a TV show about fuck all involving people you couldn't really care about. I haven't felt this anesthetized since someone tried to explain Catcher in the Rye to me.

1/10

Legit

Based loosely on comedian Geoff Nugent's (a.k.a Jim Jefferies) it was a quirky 2 seasons of off-beat comedy. The bit that interested me the most about the show was how it depicted disabled people and their families. That alone made it kind of unique. Disappointed that it only went for two seasons.

7/10

The Thick of it

After seeing Peter Capaldi in Doctor Who, I've got to say watching the good Doctor punctuating every sentence with either fuck or cunt was pretty amusing. The show is very similar to Yes Minister or The Hollowmen, so if you like that sort of stuff, you'll like this

8/10
 
Episodes - 7 / 10

It's one of those shows where an actor plays himself being an actor and has Matt LeBlanc from Friends playing Matt LeBlanc. Unlike the other ones like this, the premise of this is a fish out of water storyline about two British writers who come to LA to do an American version of their highbrow comedy about the cultured and dignified headmaster of an upper class boarding school and then the network ends up casting Joey Tribiani in the lead role.

It's all about the inanity of the entertainment industry from the points of view of a couple of outsiders who have no conception of how to operate in that environment. It works far more often than it does not and is frigging hilarious a lot of the time.
 
Well, not watching at the moment because I'm waiting for season 2 (on 26 Sep), but early this summer the wife and I binged through season 1 of This Is Us. I had become somewhat jaded on TV for a while, but found this show funny, smart, real, and touching. I'd give in 9/10.
 
Patooka said:
The Leftovers

Stopped watching after Season 2. There is no plot, as far as I can see. None of the characters are relatable and I actually nodded off in a few of the episodes and didn't miss much. What I found most offensive was the music. It's the same two fucking notes played on the piano over and over again, I presume to give some impression of drama but failed miserably. This is not a TV show about the rapture, spirituality or whatever the synopsis on IMDB and wiki state. It's a TV show about fuck all involving people you couldn't really care about. I haven't felt this anesthetized since someone tried to explain Catcher in the Rye to me.

1/10
Click to expand...

1/10? Not leaving much behind, are you? It is appropriately named. The series literally come across as a plate of leftovers.
 
Tom Sawyer said:
Episodes - 7 / 10

It's one of those shows where an actor plays himself being an actor and has Matt LeBlanc from Friends playing Matt LeBlanc. Unlike the other ones like this, the premise of this is a fish out of water storyline about two British writers who come to LA to do an American version of their highbrow comedy about the cultured and dignified headmaster of an upper class boarding school and then the network ends up casting Joey Tribiani in the lead role.

It's all about the inanity of the entertainment industry from the points of view of a couple of outsiders who have no conception of how to operate in that environment. It works far more often than it does not and is frigging hilarious a lot of the time.
Click to expand...

I loved that show. It just got better and better, as the writers got sucked deeper into the awfulness of Hollywood, while trying to retain their dignity and moral fibre - with very limited success.
 
Game of Thrones season 7 (10/10)

Still the best fantasy series ever made. It's holding up nicely. But this is by far the weakest season ever. The writing is not up to par. Especially not the dialogue. It's all under-worked touching on amateurish based on dramatic twists rather than emotional power.

Daenerys Targaryen, played by Emilia Clarke, not a great actress. She's not terrible. But a great actress can make weak dialogue fly. She doesn't. All her scenes fall flat.


like her dragon that was shot down



She should have been the easiest to write for. All the drama centred on her. But no.

Sansa Stark, also not the greatest actress. But on the other hand, she is playing a weak person asserting herself. So it actually works.

Cercie Lannister boy does she make the shit shine. That's skill, because her lines stunk.

Peter Dinklage/Tyrion Lannister has the most interesting character of the season. Still struggles to make it work.

Jamie Lannister, another who shines. Though I think he got the best lines.

The Hound, who in season six became a very interesting and complex character is back to being a one dimensional one-liner machine. I've never seen him this boring. One of my favourite characters,

Varys. What awful shit lines he had to work with. Worst lines in the whole season. I used to love his clever exchanges with Tyrion. The entire season, boring as hell. He also didn't do his job. He seems reduced to a piece of bald furniture.

It's not that this season was so awful. It's more that the writing prior to this had been so solid. It makes this one look bad.

One my favourite scenes was..


..the sex scene between Missandel and Grey Worm. But dissapointed they didn't show Grey Worm's bits. Or missing bits. That would have added power. I'm guessing that it's a first in film history, a eunuch getting laid on camera?

Another was the execution of Pyter Baelish. But a shame. Since he's one of the stronger actors. I'm also going to miss Randyll Tarly. Great actor. Played a no bullshit hard ass really well.



One of my least favourite scenes was...


when they got stuck on the rock surrounded by zombies. Why did the zombies stop? That whole scene made no sense. Unless it was dragon bait. But then... how the fuck did they know that Denearys would fly in like the RAF? If they can look into the future then where's the drama?

Also, the whole venture was ridiculous. Why would the king of the North bring such a pathetic group beyond the wall? They knew that the White Walkers were on the march with their armies. They knew that the zombies can out pace them. It was just taking stupid risks for no reason. It killed the suspense for me.

Not to mention the motivation, bringing back a zombie. Why would that convince Cercei? Westeros is a fantasy world. there's magic. Doesn't that imply that people are less impressed/more sceptical of seeing weird shit?

And the meeting of all the leaders at King's Landing. That whole scene was so redundant. Why not just send the box with the zombie down with some nobody's and let the zombie speak for itself. Why did the entire top leaders of her enemy's gather in one spot? Using wildfire to kill her enemies clearly isn't above Cercei. And they didn't really use it. Just some lame "witty" dialogue. Bah... a waste of screen time.



On the plus side, we're finally seeing everything the prior seasons have led up to. This season is the smash. Even with the weak writing it still delivers. I think it would have been very hard to fail. Still the best fantasy series ever made.

The White Walkers and the Night King, still awesome and cool.


...and we've got a zombie dragon. How cool is that? Not to mention Denaerys and Jon having some family fun incest going. It's so cool that the two main enemies are women who both fuck their brother. Making that happen and making it work in the story is some excellent writing.


 
DrZoidberg said:
Game of Thrones season 7 (10/10)

Still the best fantasy series ever made. It's holding up nicely. But this is by far the weakest season ever. The writing is not up to par. Especially not the dialogue. It's all under-worked touching on amateurish based on dramatic twists rather than emotional power.

Daenerys Targaryen, played by Emilia Clarke, not a great actress. She's not terrible. But a great actress can make weak dialogue fly. She doesn't. All her scenes fall flat.


like her dragon that was shot down



She should have been the easiest to write for. All the drama centred on her. But no.

Sansa Stark, also not the greatest actress. But on the other hand, she is playing a weak person asserting herself. So it actually works.

Cercie Lannister boy does she make the shit shine. That's skill, because her lines stunk.

Peter Dinklage/Tyrion Lannister has the most interesting character of the season. Still struggles to make it work.

Jamie Lannister, another who shines. Though I think he got the best lines.

The Hound, who in season six became a very interesting and complex character is back to being a one dimensional one-liner machine. I've never seen him this boring. One of my favourite characters,

Varys. What awful shit lines he had to work with. Worst lines in the whole season. I used to love his clever exchanges with Tyrion. The entire season, boring as hell. He also didn't do his job. He seems reduced to a piece of bald furniture.

It's not that this season was so awful. It's more that the writing prior to this had been so solid. It makes this one look bad.

One my favourite scenes was..


..the sex scene between Missandel and Grey Worm. But dissapointed they didn't show Grey Worm's bits. Or missing bits. That would have added power. I'm guessing that it's a first in film history, a eunuch getting laid on camera?

Another was the execution of Pyter Baelish. But a shame. Since he's one of the stronger actors. I'm also going to miss Randyll Tarly. Great actor. Played a no bullshit hard ass really well.



One of my least favourite scenes was...


when they got stuck on the rock surrounded by zombies. Why did the zombies stop? That whole scene made no sense. Unless it was dragon bait. But then... how the fuck did they know that Denearys would fly in like the RAF? If they can look into the future then where's the drama?

Also, the whole venture was ridiculous. Why would the king of the North bring such a pathetic group beyond the wall? They knew that the White Walkers were on the march with their armies. They knew that the zombies can out pace them. It was just taking stupid risks for no reason. It killed the suspense for me.

Not to mention the motivation, bringing back a zombie. Why would that convince Cercei? Westeros is a fantasy world. there's magic. Doesn't that imply that people are less impressed/more sceptical of seeing weird shit?

And the meeting of all the leaders at King's Landing. That whole scene was so redundant. Why not just send the box with the zombie down with some nobody's and let the zombie speak for itself. Why did the entire top leaders of her enemy's gather in one spot? Using wildfire to kill her enemies clearly isn't above Cercei. And they didn't really use it. Just some lame "witty" dialogue. Bah... a waste of screen time.



On the plus side, we're finally seeing everything the prior seasons have led up to. This season is the smash. Even with the weak writing it still delivers. I think it would have been very hard to fail. Still the best fantasy series ever made.

The White Walkers and the Night King, still awesome and cool.


...and we've got a zombie dragon. How cool is that? Not to mention Denaerys and Jon having some family fun incest going. It's so cool that the two main enemies are women who both fuck their brother. Making that happen and making it work in the story is some excellent writing.


Click to expand...


Not brother. Daenerys is John's aunt.

Assuming a male preference in the line of succession (which would seem to be the rule in Westeros), John (not his auntie/lover) is the rightful heir to the iron throne.

My feeling is that they ought to marry and rule together; Aunt/nephew seems like a fairly unsurprising level of consanguinity for the royals of Westeros, even if brother/sister is somewhat frowned upon.

Of course, a neat and tidy happy ending like that would be very Hollywood, and deeply out of character for GoT. At least one of them should die (just as it seems that victory is assured).

 
bilby said:
DrZoidberg said:
Game of Thrones season 7 (10/10)

Still the best fantasy series ever made. It's holding up nicely. But this is by far the weakest season ever. The writing is not up to par. Especially not the dialogue. It's all under-worked touching on amateurish based on dramatic twists rather than emotional power.

Daenerys Targaryen, played by Emilia Clarke, not a great actress. She's not terrible. But a great actress can make weak dialogue fly. She doesn't. All her scenes fall flat.


like her dragon that was shot down



She should have been the easiest to write for. All the drama centred on her. But no.

Sansa Stark, also not the greatest actress. But on the other hand, she is playing a weak person asserting herself. So it actually works.

Cercie Lannister boy does she make the shit shine. That's skill, because her lines stunk.

Peter Dinklage/Tyrion Lannister has the most interesting character of the season. Still struggles to make it work.

Jamie Lannister, another who shines. Though I think he got the best lines.

The Hound, who in season six became a very interesting and complex character is back to being a one dimensional one-liner machine. I've never seen him this boring. One of my favourite characters,

Varys. What awful shit lines he had to work with. Worst lines in the whole season. I used to love his clever exchanges with Tyrion. The entire season, boring as hell. He also didn't do his job. He seems reduced to a piece of bald furniture.

It's not that this season was so awful. It's more that the writing prior to this had been so solid. It makes this one look bad.

One my favourite scenes was..


..the sex scene between Missandel and Grey Worm. But dissapointed they didn't show Grey Worm's bits. Or missing bits. That would have added power. I'm guessing that it's a first in film history, a eunuch getting laid on camera?

Another was the execution of Pyter Baelish. But a shame. Since he's one of the stronger actors. I'm also going to miss Randyll Tarly. Great actor. Played a no bullshit hard ass really well.



One of my least favourite scenes was...


when they got stuck on the rock surrounded by zombies. Why did the zombies stop? That whole scene made no sense. Unless it was dragon bait. But then... how the fuck did they know that Denearys would fly in like the RAF? If they can look into the future then where's the drama?

Also, the whole venture was ridiculous. Why would the king of the North bring such a pathetic group beyond the wall? They knew that the White Walkers were on the march with their armies. They knew that the zombies can out pace them. It was just taking stupid risks for no reason. It killed the suspense for me.

Not to mention the motivation, bringing back a zombie. Why would that convince Cercei? Westeros is a fantasy world. there's magic. Doesn't that imply that people are less impressed/more sceptical of seeing weird shit?

And the meeting of all the leaders at King's Landing. That whole scene was so redundant. Why not just send the box with the zombie down with some nobody's and let the zombie speak for itself. Why did the entire top leaders of her enemy's gather in one spot? Using wildfire to kill her enemies clearly isn't above Cercei. And they didn't really use it. Just some lame "witty" dialogue. Bah... a waste of screen time.



On the plus side, we're finally seeing everything the prior seasons have led up to. This season is the smash. Even with the weak writing it still delivers. I think it would have been very hard to fail. Still the best fantasy series ever made.

The White Walkers and the Night King, still awesome and cool.


...and we've got a zombie dragon. How cool is that? Not to mention Denaerys and Jon having some family fun incest going. It's so cool that the two main enemies are women who both fuck their brother. Making that happen and making it work in the story is some excellent writing.


Click to expand...


Not brother. Daenerys is John's aunt.

Assuming a male preference in the line of succession (which would seem to be the rule in Westeros), John (not his auntie/lover) is the rightful heir to the iron throne.

My feeling is that they ought to marry and rule together; Aunt/nephew seems like a fairly unsurprising level of consanguinity for the royals of Westeros, even if brother/sister is somewhat frowned upon.

Of course, a neat and tidy happy ending like that would be very Hollywood, and deeply out of character for GoT. At least one of them should die (just as it seems that victory is assured).

Click to expand...




Yeah, but even if one of them would be killed.... enter Red Witch... alive again.

*nerd theory to follow*

I think it's going to be a Hollywood ending. But I think they won't be ruling much. I think they'll try to destroy the Night King, be stabbed in the back by Cercei and then the Night King will flood Westeros. The Night King will kill Cercei, turn her into a zombie, and then they'll have a final battle fighting Zombie Cercei and win.

But it will ultimately be an unsatisfying ending because as zombie Cercei stands over the broken body of Jon, Denaerys (with the help of Sam Tarly) will find "the sword of Kiuhibrvgs" or "flute of Eki eki eki T'Pang" which will insta-kill all zombies. Which of course they had all along, but didn't know how to use. If they'd only known they would have been able to kill the Night King easily right from the start.

Jon and Daenerys will then have to work on re-building the world after the zombie apocalypse. THE END

While the start might be full of surprises these Hollywood endings are very predictable.

 
The Good Place: 8.5/10

A light-hearted comedy starring Kristen Bell and Ted Danson about a woman who goes to the afterlife and finds herself in the "good place" and not the "bad place", where she really belongs. She attempts to hide the fact that she accidentally arrived in the good place and her "soulmate", a former ethics professor, attempts to teach her how to be a good person. Hilarity ensues. It's a funny show that was well done in all aspects. I recommend it if you're looking for something light, but not simply fluff.
 
Vikings (no rating yet)

The show is interesting but the dialogue is painful shit, like constipation, and Travis Fimmel is just fucking woeful. He sounds like he has a speech impediment and his body language makes no sense, and these make him completely unbelievable as a viking leader (or probably any character for that matter).
 
Last edited:
Just finished the first episode of Ken Burns' The Vietnam War.

Wow. This is what television should be. Thorough.
 
bigfield said:
Vikings (no rating yet)

The show is interesting but the dialogue is painful shit, like constipation, and Travis Fimmel is just fucking woeful. He sounds like he has a speech impediment and his body language makes no sense, and these make him completely unbelievable as a viking leader (or probably any character for that matter).
Click to expand...

Being of viking ancestry I really looked forward to this. Especially since they're using historical names and real people from history. Nope. It's a LARPing series. They couldn't be bothered to do even the most superficial research. Which is bizarre since:

1) Nobody has yet to make a historically accurate TV-series of actual viking history. The lowest hanging fruit.
2) Real viking history is interesting. These were some very colourful people indeed.
3) It'd be cheap to make since historical Vikings had very basic and equipment and led frugal lives. No fancy swords, or sophisticated armour. Just spears and chain-mail. Vendel style helmets are incredibly basic and easy to churn out. Very basic linen or wool shirts. Wool socks/boots. They had none of that fancy shit in the Viking TV-series. Especially not the complicated designer leather wear they all walk around in.

There's a reason Game of Thrones is so fun to watch. It's based on historical European dynastic conflicts. Viking historical dynastic conflicts are even more fun with bizarre twists, back stabbing and revenge killings. The Vikings TV series is bland porridge in comparison. So boring. Ragnar Lothbrok from the tv series is the lamest simplistic hero character. His most interesting feature is his washboard stomach.

I only made it to the end of series 2. Couldn't force myself to keep watching.

*end of rant*
 
Have you watched The Last Kingdom? It has some Viking action, although it takes place in England during the time of King Edward the Great, when he was plagued with wave after wave of Danes going Viking all across the island.

I don't know how historically accurate it is.
 
Just finished Dirk Gently's Hollistic Detective Agency. Of course I love it. But you definitely have to be a bit open minded and maybe a tad crazy to really get it.
 
DrZoidberg said:
...historical Vikings had very basic and equipment and led frugal lives. No fancy swords, or sophisticated armour. Just spears and chain-mail. Vendel style helmets are incredibly basic and easy to churn out. Very basic linen or wool shirts. Wool socks/boots. They had none of that fancy shit in the Viking TV-series. Especially not the complicated designer leather wear they all walk around in.
Click to expand...

I went into the show having read the criticisms of historical inaccuracy and mentally treated it as a history-inspired fantasy show, but the costumes and haircuts are quite distracting. Does Ragnar shave the sides of his head every day, even while on his deathbed? Why does that shirt look like it's made from plastic or polyester?

I enjoyed the raids, the sheer cruelty of the raiders and the ineptitude of the Saxon garrisons, but everything else is mediocre to shit.

Stopped my binge after just over one season. 3/5 stars.
 
James Brown said:
Have you watched The Last Kingdom? It has some Viking action, although it takes place in England during the time of King Edward the Great, when he was plagued with wave after wave of Danes going Viking all across the island.

I don't know how historically accurate it is.
Click to expand...
That's a good series. I was into the Bernard Cornwell books some years back. He claims to make the stories as accurate as documentation allows. I don't think Vikings were big on maintaining records.
 
James Brown said:
Have you watched The Last Kingdom? It has some Viking action, although it takes place in England during the time of King Edward the Great, when he was plagued with wave after wave of Danes going Viking all across the island.

I don't know how historically accurate it is.
Click to expand...

The Last Kingdom is great. If you fast forward past the fighting scenes. It's in parts Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon level. The politics is accurate. They even call the Vikings the right thing, ie "Danes". Viking is a modern term for them. The word viking was the Norse word for going on a raid. They themselves did not identify with being Vikings and neither did other people call them that.

But they screw up the Viking equipment, just as much as the Vikings series. The vikings fought in massed ranks. Similar to the ancient Greeks. Or any ancient army. That's... you know... how they won battles. Ancient battles rely on discipline and training. Not on getting drunk and flailing wildly. The Norse shield wall was a popular viking tactic. Shield walls require extreme discipline, which they wouldn't have been able to consistently succeed with if they weren't well disciplined.

The Last Kingdom at least treats the cultural conflicts well. And tries to explain it. In the Vikings it's just flavour. For all practical purposes Ragnra Lothbrok, (in the series) is a modern man gone back in time in a time machine.
 
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